Hoda Kotb is on a mission to find her soulmate! The beloved Today show host has experienced the highs and lows of love, including a previous marriage and divorce. Now, she's determined to find that special someone to share her life with. With her signature warmth and charm, Hoda is navigating the ups and downs of dating with grace and humor.
Hoda Kotb’s First Marriage: A Love Story Cut Short
Back in 2005, Hoda Kotb walked down the aisle with tennis coach Burzis Kanga in a beautiful destination wedding in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The couple met at a fundraising event for the American Heart Association’s Valentine’s Day gala in New Orleans. It was love at first sight—or at least, it felt that way for a while. They exchanged vows surrounded by their closest family members, creating memories that would last a lifetime.
Hoda described her early married life as pure bliss. "We have been dating off and on for years," she reminisced in an interview with New Orleans Living Magazine in 2006. "And of course, I had moved up to New York, but later we ended up connecting again. He proposed last May, and we married in December. Married life has been great! We love just kind of knocking around New York, doing some Broadway plays, going out to eat. There’s a neighborhood bar that we like that plays soul music. If I would have known it was this much fun, I probably would have done it a long time ago!"
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Unfortunately, their love story didn't last forever. By 2008, the couple had parted ways. Hoda revealed during a candid moment on Today in October 2023 that her divorce coincided with a difficult battle against breast cancer. "I went through a divorce and breast cancer simultaneously, and I remembered in that time barely functioning," she said. "I was thinking to myself, like, 'Is this it? Is this how it goes?' I was in horrible health, and I didn’t care about that piece of it. You don’t realize how bad it gets, and then you’re compounding it, your health gets worse, because you’re not well, and it went on and on."
Hoda Kotb Finds Love Again with Joel Schiffman
Fast forward to 2013, when Hoda met Joel Schiffman at a Wall Street event. Their relationship blossomed quietly at first, with the couple keeping things under wraps for the first two years. Hoda opened up about their early days together during an episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in 2015. "I asked someone from the place—I asked, 'Will you find out his situation?' Because I didn’t know anything about him," she recalled. "I knew he didn’t have a wedding ring, but that’s all I knew. Then she emailed him, and he emailed me and asked me out on a date."
In 2016, Hoda and Joel made the big move to live together, a decision that marked a new chapter in their relationship. The following year, Hoda adopted her first daughter, Haley, and later welcomed her second daughter, Hope, in 2019. The couple got engaged in the same year, planning to walk down the aisle and start their lives together as a family. However, the global pandemic threw a wrench in their plans, forcing them to delay their wedding multiple times.
Ultimately, Hoda and Joel decided to part ways amicably in January 2022. In a heartfelt announcement on Today, Hoda shared, "Joel and I have had a lot of prayerful and meaningful conversations over the holidays and we decided that we’re better as friends and parents than we are as an engaged couple. So, we decided we are going to start this new year on our new path as loving parents to our adorable, delightful children, and as friends."
Hoda Kotb Embraces Dating Again
After her breakup with Joel, Hoda Kotb decided to re-enter the dating scene with an open heart. She revealed that she had been on multiple dates with a mystery man, introduced to her by Today cohost Jenna Bush Hager. "I had a great time ... I had a great time on our date. I loved it," she told Entertainment Tonight in March 2024. "There has been a second one already. Hey, that’s how it goes… We’ll have our third coming up. It’s really fun."
